[Imc-outreach] Re: [RFU] Community Shares Report

[Mike Lehman]

Kiah,
Thanks for the update on Community Shares. I personally appreciate the 
effort you are putting into this. It shows how valuable initiative like 
yours is when members step up and take responsibility for specific 
projects at the IMC. I just had someone ask me at work today on campus 
more about why they should help to specifically support the IMC, because 
they'd come across the opportunity to contribute as part of this 
important outreach effort.

WRFU is just setting up many of the policies and procedures on how we 
operate the station. Since Community Shares is an important area where 
WRFU can help raise funding for the IMC to help cover our costs through 
Community Shares, we will have someone folllow-up on what we need to do 
earn shares by making and running Community Shares PSAs, etc.

Thanks again,
Mike Lehman

Kiah Morris wrote:

> Hello Steering, News, WRFU, and Finance Groups!
> 
> My name is Kiah Morris and I am the IMC rep for Community Shares. Below 
> is a report/summary I created about our current participation in 
> Community Shares, and upcoming events of interest.
> 
> __________________________________________________________________
> 
> Community Shares Report:
> 
> To bring everyone up to speed, the Community Shares of Illinois is 
> essentially an alliance of non-profits throughout the state who are 
> seeking to maximize the resources we have collectively to raise funds. 
> (The whole power in numbers concept, if you will.) UCIMC is a local 
> member of Community Shares and I am currently serving as the interim 
> representative for the UCIMC.  Their website is www.cs-il.org 
> <http://www.cs-il.org>
> 
> Basically, Community Shares works like this: there are collective 
> projects that we work on to raise funds and awareness about our 
> organizations and Community Shares that direct donated dollars to the 
> whole collective, and then there are targeted projects that we might 
> pursue to raise awareness and funds specifically for our group under the 
> Community Shares banner.  Of the money that Community Shares collects, a 
> sizable portion of it is not specified to go to any particular group.  
> But we gain access to these dollars through our participation through a 
> point system for fundraising and awareness campaigns.  Some of these are 
> called "Sweat dollars". As an example, UCIMC earns sweat dollars through 
> my attendance as a representative at the regional meetings.  Another 
> source is through any advertisements and awareness campaigns that we 
> produce about Community Shares.
> 
> Essentially, points are awarded each year, and the amount varies from 
> group to group depending on participation levels and the total amount of 
> undesignated dollars raised at the end of the fiscal year. For example, 
> it takes 30 points to get a share. Let say that each share is worth 
> around $1,250.00, so 4 shares will earn you $5,000.00 cash. (Finance: 
> BTW, this year's check should be issued in the next few weeks, for 
> $1,154.00 per share.) Each meeting I attend earns us a point, each time 
> we use the Community Shares Logo on our publications or website (or even 
> a hyperlink!) it earns us points…etc, etc.
> 
> So….WRFU, News, we need you! Every 5 PSA ads that talk about Community 
> Shares and our giving will earn us a point. Public I, each use of the 
> logo (as "a member of") earns us a point (up to 3 per quarter), and an 
> article gets us 4 points. But it's not just about Community Shares, it 
> is also about UCIMC, right?
> 
> Well, Community Shares has initiated a payroll deduction campaign to 
> increase donor participation and to move our one time donors to becoming 
> regular donors for larger amounts. This happens because instead of 
> donating one large sum, once a year, their donations are split into 
> smaller incremental amounts according to their pay schedule. Community 
> Shares has seen donation amounts triple using this method.  I personally 
> have participated in one of these programs and was able to donate 
> $200.00 a year from my extremely modest budget. Not too shabby for a 
> broke college student, huh? It also streamlines the process of 
> collection by directly depositing the amounts donated.  How's that for 
> simple?
> 
> We need your help though in identifying corporations, and in particular, 
> staff within local employers that would be willing to work with 
> Community Shares on introducing these programs into workplaces around 
> the C-U area. And we need to reach out to our current supporters and let 
> them know of this donating possibility.
> 
> And another great need is also on the horizon…the Share-A-Meal 
> fundraising event. (March 14. 2006) This year, Community Shares is 
> asking each member organization to identify, coordinate and staff a 
> Share-A-Meal event at a local restaurant of their choice. For a 
> newcomers like us, we might want to partner up with another non-profit 
> if we don't think we can fill the house. But generally speaking, this 
> event has had overwhelming success, so it should prove positive for our 
> organization financially and for increasing public visibility. (In case 
> you are wondering, "medium-to-high end" restaurants are primarily 
> targeted because the cost of producing this event far exceeds the 
> amounts that can be generated.) This may seem like a "slightly out of 
> character" style of programming for UCIMC, but it can serve as an 
> amazing opportunity to really reach out to community members who would 
> like to donate and learn more about us. This single event is so 
> important that Community Shares will award 6 points for getting a 
> restaurant on board, 3 points for every 2 hours that the event runs at 
> that restaurant, and 1 point per person who shows up on behalf of UCIMC! 
> All of that equals donations, donations, donations! (Not to mention any 
> advertising we do for this event also earns us points.) I want to 
> mention that our participation at this level is optional, but it is 
> worth noting that the labor involved, whether we host or not, benefits 
> us as well as those other organizations that do take on this level of work.
> 
> Some potential restaurants we are seeking to get on board are:
> 
> Kennedy's (confirmed)
> 
> Milo's (confirmed)
> 
> Silvercreek (confirmed)
> 
> Radio Maria
> 
> Co-Fusion
> 
> Great Impasta
> 
> Participating restaurants need to be confirmed by the next regional 
> meeting, which is on November 16, 2005. So if anyone has any 
> suggestions, please let me know asap. (Personally, I am leaning towards 
> hooking up with Radio Maria.)
> 
> So, there it is….a mighty long email about some mighty important 
> projects. So, if someone from Finance, WRFU, Print, Outreach and 
> Steering can get back to me on thoughts, ideas and action regarding 
> this, it would be greatly appreciated! (I have to send them reports of 
> what is going on in order for us to get points.)
> 
> Thank you so much for your time, and please do not hesitate to contact 
> me with questions!
> 
> 
> All the best,
> 
> 
> Kiah Morris
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> One regret dear world/that I am determined not to have/when I am lying 
> on my death bed/is that I did not kiss you enough!--Hafiz
> 
> 
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